title: Medical students as learners: transforming the resident-level microskills of teaching into a parallel curriculum for medical students to aid the transition from classroom to OB/GYN clerkship.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of the study was to describe and assess a brief curricular intervention designed to help medical students adopt active learning strategies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on student interest, we created a one-hour workshop that focused on seven microskills of learning and presented it to our medical students during their Obstetrics and Gynecology clerkship. The workshop utilized a modified version of the "Five-Step 'Microskills' Model of Clinical Teaching" first described by Neher in 1992 and paralleled the model our residents are taught as part of their "Resident-as-Teacher" curriculum. Students were surveyed at various time points following the workshop to evaluate the perceived usefuness, value, and durability of the skills taught.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immediate postworkshop feedback was favorable with 93% of students expecting to use the skills taught. At the end of the rotation, students reported a significant increase in usage of each microskill via a retrospective pre/postquestionnaire. While response rates at 1, 3, and 6 months after the rotation were moderate, the majority of the students responding stated that they had utilized the microskills.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In its pilot year, the Microskills of Learning workshop was a beneficial addition to our clinical clerkship curriculum. By utilizing a parallel curriculum to that of our residents, the workshop mutually enhanced the educational process by encouraging teachers and learners to speak the same language.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, USA. jmh2152@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer M H
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Amorosa
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: Rini B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Ratan
mesh_terms: D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006176:Gynecology / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000193:education*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards